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Red beet extract contains a variety of bioactive compounds, including antioxidant and immune-stimulating properties. Red beets are rich in nutrients and have been reported to help mitigate cardiovascular disease, while also possessing potent antioxidant capacity. In this study, we sought to determine the immune-enhancing effects of red beet fermented extract. The immunosuppressive drug cyclophosphamide (Cy) and red beet fermented extract were orally administered to Wistar rats once daily for four weeks. Blood analysis was performed to measure the expression of immune cytokines. We also examined the immunostimulatory effects of red beet fermented extract by measuring the activity and viability of spleen cells and the expression of immune cytokines. The expression of immune cytokines in the blood and spleen cells was increased in the red beet fermented extract treatment group compared to that in the negative control group, which induced immunosuppression of cytokines. It also increased the activity of NK cells and improved the viability of spleen cells. In conclusion, red beet fermented extract increased the expression of immune cytokines and increased the activity of adipocytes and NK cells, confirming its immunostimulatory effect. Therefore, red beet fermented extract has the potential to be utilized as a nutraceutical ingredient to enhance immunity.

Osteoarthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease, and, due to the lack of fundamental treatment, the main objective is to alleviate pain and prevent cartilage damage. Kalopanax pictus Nakai and Achyranthes japonica Nakai are herbal plants known for their excellent anti-inflammatory properties. The objective of this study is to confirm the potential of a mixture extract of Kalopanax pictus Nakai and Achyranthes japonica Nakai as a functional raw material for improving osteoarthritis through anti-inflammatory effects in macrophages and MIA-induced arthritis experimental animals. In macrophages inflamed by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), treatment of Kalopanax pictus Nakai and Achyranthes japonica Nakai mixture inhibits NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activities, thereby inhibiting inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), inflammatory factors PGE2, MMP-2, and MMP-9, and nitric oxide (NO) was reduced. In addition, in an animal model of arthritis induced by MIA (monosodium iodoacetate), administration of Kalopanax pictus Nakai and Achyranthes japonica Nakai mixture reduced blood levels of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6, inflammatory factors prostaglandin E2(PGE2), matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2), and NO. Through these anti-inflammatory effects, MIA-induced pain reduction (recovery of clinical index, increase in weight bearing, and increase in area and width of the foot), recovery of meniscus damage, loss of cartilage tissue or inflammatory cells in tissue infiltration reduction, and recovery of the proteglycan layer were confirmed. Therefore, it is considered that Kalopanax pictus Nakai and Achyranthes japonica Nakai mixture has the potential as a functional raw material that promotes joint health.

A new species of Lecithocera Herrich-Shäffer, L. atriptera Park, sp. nov., is described from Korea, and two species, Homaloxestis myeloxesta Meyrick, 1932 and Lecitholaxa indigens (Meyrick, 1914), are reported for the first time from Korea. Halolaguna sublaxata Gozmány is newly known from Isl. Jeju-do. In addition, new localities for the six previously known species are given. A tentative checklist of Lecithoceridae in Korea is provided, with their type depositories.

Early detection and proper management of kidney rejection are crucial for the long-term health of a transplant recipient. Recipients are normally monitored by serum creatinine measurement and sometimes with graft biopsies. Donor-derived cell-free deoxyribonucleic acid (cfDNA) in the recipient's plasma and/or urine may be a better indicator of acute rejection. We evaluated digital PCR (dPCR) as a system for monitoring graft status using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based detection of donor DNA in plasma or urine. We compared the detection abilities of the QX200, RainDrop, and QuantStudio 3D dPCR systems. The QX200 was the most accurate and sensitive. Plasma and/or urine samples were isolated from 34 kidney recipients at multiple time points after transplantation, and analyzed by dPCR using the QX200. We found that donor DNA was almost undetectable in plasma DNA samples, whereas a high percentage of donor DNA was measured in urine DNA samples, indicating that urine is a good source of cfDNA for patient monitoring. We found that at least 24% of the highly polymorphic SNPs used to identify individuals could also identify donor cfDNA in transplant patient samples. Our results further showed that autosomal, sex-specific, and mitochondrial SNPs were suitable markers for identifying donor cfDNA. Finally, we found that donor-derived cfDNA measurement by dPCR was not sufficient to predict a patient's clinical condition. Our results indicate that donor-derived cfDNA is not an accurate predictor of kidney status in kidney transplant patients.

Two species belonging to Meleonoma Meyrick—M. tamraensis Park, sp. nov. and M. brevicula Park, sp. nov.—are described from Jeju Island, Korea, and Meleonoma facialis Li & Wang, 2002 is reported for the first time from Korea. The genus Meleonoma is still a source of some debate in terms of the taxonomic position of its family level, and it is tentatively placed in the family Lypusidae.

In this letter, an electrically small Spidron fractal loop antenna operating in the VHF band is proposed. The ferrite material, which consists of a nickel-zinc combination, is loaded into inside of the loop antenna to increase the gain of the antenna in the low frequency band. To minimize the magnetic loss of the ferrite in the high frequency band, the amount and configuration of the ferrite are optimized using a genetic algorithm. Through this optimization step, the amount of the ferrite is decreased to 37.5% and the gain of the antenna in the high frequency band is improved. The size of the proposed antenna is 0.0242 × 0.0242 × 0.0051 λL3 at the lowest operating frequency. The proposed antenna was fabricated to verify the performance, and the simulated and measured results are in good agreement. The measured peak gains varied from −31.6 to −1.9 dBi within the measured frequency band. To examine the performance of the proposed antenna mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle model (UAV), the antenna on a UAV was also simulated and the results were discussed. The simulated realized peak gains of the antenna on the UAV and on flat ground are similar.

The family Prodoxidae is recorded for the first time from Korea, reporting Lampronia flavimitrella (Hübner) which was collected at Jeju-do Island. Redescription of the adult is given, with images of adult and male genitalia.

A low-profile wideband monocone antenna with bent shorting strips, and parasitic and circular sleeves is proposed. By loading the bent shorting strips, parasitic sleeves, and circular sleeves, miniaturization of the antenna is achieved. Along with bent shorting strips from the monocone hat to the ground plane, parasitic sleeves, and circular sleeves are mounted to enhance the impedance bandwidth. From the experimental results, the −10 dB reflection coefficient bandwidth of the proposed antenna ranges from 810 MHz to 5340 MHz. In addition to the wide bandwidth characteristics, the proposed antenna has highly desirable omnidirectional radiation properties for wireless communication systems.

Background: This study aimed to identify the impacts of job stress and cognitive failure on patient safety incidents among hospital nurses in Korea. Methods: The study included 279 nurses who worked for at least 6 months in five general hospitals in Korea. Data were collected with self-administered questionnaires designed to measure job stress, cognitive failure, and patient safety incidents. Results: This study showed that 27.9% of the participants had experienced patient safety incidents in the past 6 months. Factors affecting incidents were found to be shift work [odds ratio (OR) = 6.85], cognitive failure (OR = 2.92), lacking job autonomy (OR = 0.97), and job instability (OR = 1.02). Conclusion: Patient safety incidents were affected by shift work, cognitive failure, and job stress. Many countermeasures to reduce the incidents caused by shift work, and plans to reduce job stress to reduce the workers' cognitive failure are required. In addition, there is a necessity to reduce job instability and clearly define the scope and authority for duties that are directly related to the patient's safety.

Stress-related cardiomyopathy can develop during the postoperative period due to surgery-related stress factors. However, the prevalence and risk factors for this condition are not yet known. During a retrospective, observational study, patients older than 19 years who underwent procedures from January 2011 to December 2015 at a tertiary hospital were included. The main aim was to identify the prevalence and related risk factors for postoperative stress-related cardiomyopathy. To estimate the incidence per risk factor, univariate and multivariate Poisson regression analyses were performed. During the 5-year period, 95,840 patients older than 19 years underwent 125,314 procedures, and the prevalence of postoperative stress-related cardiomyopathy was 17.74 per 100,000 (95% confidence interval, 9.31-26.17), with an in-hospital mortality of 23.5%. As a result, three risk factors were significantly associated: preoperative American Society of Anesthesiologists classification (incidence rate ratio, 5.901 for American Society of Anesthesiologists class 1-2 [ref] versus 3-6; 95% confidence interval,1.289-27.002; P = 0.022); preoperative body mass index (incidence rate ratio, 1.247 for increases of 18.5 [ref] to 30; 95% confidence interval, 1.067-1.458; P = 0.006); and preoperative serum sodium (incidence rate ratio, 0.830 for each increase of 10 mmol/L from 130; 95% confidence interval, 0.731-0.942; P = 0.004). The incidence rate ratio for age for each increase of 10 years from 50 years was 1.057, but it was not statistically significant (P = 0.064). Our study found that the prevalence of postoperative stress-related cardiomyopathy was 17.74 patients per 100,000 adult patients over the course of 5 years, with four cases of in-hospital mortality. Factors that increased the risk of postoperative stress-related cardiomyopathy included higher American Society of Anesthesiologists class (≥3), preoperative hyponatremia, and higher preoperative body mass index.

Genomic changes frequently occur in cancer cells during tumorigenesis from normal cells. Using the Illumina Human NS-12 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip to screen for gene copy number changes in primary hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), we initially detected amplification of 35 genes from four genomic regions (1q21-41, 6p21.2-24.1, 7p13 and 8q13-23). By integrated screening of these genes for both DNA copy number and gene expression in HCC and colorectal cancer, we selected CENPF (centromere protein F/mitosin), GMNN (geminin, DNA replication inhibitor), CDK13 (cyclin-dependent kinase 13), and FAM82B (family with sequence similarity 82, member B) as common cancer genes. Each gene exhibited an amplification frequency of ~30% (range, 20-50%) in primary HCC (n = 57) and colorectal cancer (n = 12), as well as in a panel of human cancer cell lines (n = 70). Clonogenic and invasion assays of NIH3T3 cells transfected with each of the four amplified genes showed that CENPF, GMNN, and CDK13 were highly oncogenic whereas FAM82B was not. Interestingly, the oncogenic activity of these genes (excluding FAM82B) was highly correlated with gene-copy numbers in tumor samples (correlation coefficient, r>0.423), indicating that amplifications of CENPF, GMNN, and CDK13 genes are tightly linked and coincident in tumors. Furthermore, we confirmed that CDK13 gene copy number was significantly associated with clinical onset age in patients with HCC (P = 0.0037). Taken together, our results suggest that coincidently amplified CDK13, GMNN, and CENPF genes can play a role as common cancer-driver genes in human cancers.

Background: Previous studies have reported that oxidative stress contributes to obesity characterized by adipocyte hypertrophy. However, mechanism has not been studied extensively. In the current study, we evaluated role of extracellular vimentin secreted by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) in energy metabolism in adipocytes. Methods: We treated 3T3-L1-derived adipocytes with oxLDL and measured vimentin which was secreted in the media. We evaluated changes in uptake of glucose and free fatty acid, expression of molecules functioning in energy metabolism, synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and lactate, markers for endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagy in adipocytes treated with recombinant vimentin. Results: Adipocytes secreted vimentin in response to oxLDL. Microscopic evaluation revealed that vimentin treatment induced increase in adipocyte size and increase in sizes of intracellular lipid droplets with increased intracellular triglyceride. Adipocytes treated with vimentin showed increased uptake of glucose and free fatty acid with increased expression of plasma membrane glucose transporter type 1 (GLUT1), GLUT4, and CD36. Vimentin treatment increased transcription of GLUT1 and hypoxia-inducible factor 1a (Hif-1a) but decreased GLUT4 transcription. Adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1), diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) and 2 were decreased by vimentin treatment. Markers for ER stress were increased and autophagy was impaired in vimentin-treated adipocytes. No change was observed in synthesis of ATP and lactate in the adipocytes treated with vimentin. Conclusion: We concluded that extracellular vimentin regulates expression of molecules in energy metabolism and promotes adipocyte hypertrophy. Our results show that vimentin functions in the interplay between oxidative stress and metabolism, suggesting a mechanism by which adipocyte hypertrophy is induced in oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]